The legal framework for the institutionalisation of international commercial arbitration in Nigeria: a critical review

Considering the need to enhance commercial activities in Nigeria and the indisputable right of international parties to resolve disputes through arbitration, the desire for Nigeria to sign and ratify the New York Convention cannot be over emphasized. Unquestionably, the administration of justice through our regular courts is usually beleaguered with delays for diverse reasons. An attempt to combat these delays and ensure swifter dispensation of justice has seen the emergence of arbitration in its effective use in Nigeria. The need for speed, resulting in more efficiency and economy in contract drafting, has always dominated international commercial transactions. Thus, the need for resorting to arbitration is more compelling considering the lethargic attitude of Nigerian courts to the resolution of sophisticated commercial disputes.This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms through which there has been an implantation and implementation of international commercial arbitration legal regime in Nigeria. The work attempts a critical analysis of relevant extant laws in use in Nigeria and the effectiveness as well as efficiency of these laws. A detailed explication of the different international legal regime of commercial arbitration has been highlighted with the ultimate aim of adverting Nigerian as bedrock of sustainable resolution of commercial disputes through the instrumentality of arbitration in sub-Saharan Africa. The work thus queries the receptive nature of our national courts towards the enforcement of foreign arbitral award.Keywords: International Commercial Arbitration, New York Convention, Enforcement, Nigeri

Core City Slums and Vulnerability: A Theoretical and Analytical Approach

Cities the magnet of hope are pulling people into themselves without preparing for them this influx leads to overconcentration of people in the already blighted cities centers this creates new problems or aggravates the existing ones which makes the residents vulnerable to various dangers This work reviews a few urban planning theories triangulated them and introduces a modified version It also analysis vulnerability in the slums of core city centers and suggested strategies that can reduce it The work will be of tremendous use to policy makers urban planners academic community and the general publi

Financial Literacy and Women Entrepreneurs’ Performance in Lagos State, Nigeria

Purpose: The study seeks to examine the influence of financial literacy on women entrepreneurs’ performance with particular reference to Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods: A survey research design was employed for this study and a judgmental sampling technique was used to select 250 women entrepreneurs engaging in trading, teaching, fashion design, and agro-allied businesses. Mean, frequency, simple percentage, and least square method of estimation were used to analyze the data. Results: The study establishes that financial literacy is a major determinant of women entrepreneurs’ performance. Implications: The implication of this study is that if women entrepreneurs are equipped with an array of financial skills on income statement preparation, cash flow statement and cash budget preparation, the opening of a separate account for business, bookkeeping, internal control on cash, and daily cash reconciliation, they will be able to expand their businesses

DEVELOPMENT OF A RECHARGEABLE ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED MOTORISED WHEELCHAIR FOR DISABLED AND ELDERLY PEOPLE

The physically challenged, old-age people, and most paralysed patients need means of transportation from place to place to ease their movement. The earlier available wheelchairs are manually driven that need extra effort of either the physically challenged or an assisting person to move. Nowadays, the level of communication and socialization strongly depends on easy access to mobile transportation.  This paper presents a developed motorized wheelchair that facilitates movement of physically challenged people both in the hospital and in their home by taking into account aesthetics, low cost, ease on maintenance with market competitive advantage using locally sourced materials. The developed wheelchair is designed to work for 3 hours under a maximum load of 90 kg with navigation buttons. A working efficiency of 65 % was obtained under full operation. This design brings a new competition into the wheelchair market and gives more comfort to the physically challenged peoples’ mobility than the existing manually driven one

SUSTAINING THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH UTILIZATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA. HUMAN RIGHTS CONSIDERATIONS

In recent years, there has been an increased call for what can be referred to as environmental justice. This expression has found support in the fact that indigenes resident in resource extraction environments, ethnic minorities, least educated and impoverished people suffer tremendously from exposure to environmental hazards caused by exploration of natural resources in their environment. This work is an exposition of the age-long battle between the effects of transnational corporations’ activities in developing countries such as Nigeria and the infringement of rights of the inhabitants of extraction areas. The work analyses the principles of international environmental law and creates an exception under international human rights law which demands that States can now be held culpable for acts committed in violation of norms of customary international law. The efficacy of international instruments in achieving these rights is highlighted, considering the fact that the Constitution has failed in realizing the importance of environmental justice in the development of the Country. The work juxtaposes the rights which inure to individuals by virtue of being human with the demand for extraction of natural resources vis-à-vis the responsibility of transnational corporations in the exploitation of such resources. The work recommends that Nigeria must recognize the right to clean and healthy environmental as a justiciable right. Not only must there be the means to implement these rights, there must be adequate and responsible enforcement mechanisms in place. Government must not only be serious but be manifestly seen to be so

Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Activities of the Leaf Oil Extract of Mentha Spicata and its Efficacy in Repelling Mosquito

Synthetic drugs and repellents have been discovered to have adverse toxicity effects apart from the fact that they are no longer efficient due to adaptation of microbes and mosquitoes to them. This study is based on using the extract from local leaves (Mentha spicata plant) as treatment for microbial diseases as well as mosquito repellent. Extract of leaf were studied and screened for the presence of phytochemicals (secondary metabolites) and antimicrobial properties against some fungi and bacteria viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus Subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The result of the phytochemical screening revealed that the leave extract contained tannin, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols and cardiac glycosides while anthraquinones and saponins were not determined. From the microbial analysis the zone of inhibitions indicated that the extract of Mentha spicata plant had strong activity against bacteria and fungi used in this analysis. Mentha spicata oil extract with the highest concentration when introduced into the produced cream had the highest repellency time lasting up to four [4] hours. The chemical constituents of the leaf oil extract were analyzed using Gas chromatography- mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and the major chemical constituent identified was carvon

Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Activities of the Leaf Oil Extract of Mentha Spicata and its Efficacy in Repelling Mosquito

Synthetic drugs and repellents have been discovered to have adverse toxicity effects apart from the fact that they are no longer efficient due to adaptation of microbes and mosquitoes to them. This study is based on using the extract from local leaves (Mentha spicata plant) as treatment for microbial diseases as well as mosquito repellent. Extract of leaf were studied and screened for the presence of phytochemicals (secondary metabolites) and antimicrobial properties against some fungi and bacteria viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus Subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The result of the phytochemical screening revealed that the leave extract contained tannin, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols and cardiac glycosides while anthraquinones and saponins were not determined. From the microbial analysis the zone of inhibitions indicated that the extract of Mentha spicata plant had strong activity against bacteria and fungi used in this analysis. Mentha spicata oil extract with the highest concentration when introduced into the produced cream had the highest repellency time lasting up to four [4] hours. The chemical constituents of the leaf oil extract were analyzed using Gas chromatography- mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and the major chemical constituent identified was carvon

Effect of Crystallisation Time on the Synthesis of Zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite Clay

In this study, the effect of crystallization time on the synthesis of zeolite Y from Elefun kaolinite clay was investigated. During the synthesis of zeolite Y, the raw Elefun kaolinite clay was beneficiated thoroughly with water for 7 days before it was calcined at a 850oC for 6 hours to thermally convert it to metakaolin. Dealumination of the metakaolin was then carried out using the novel method to achieve a target SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 6.5. A hydrogel solution was prepared by mixing the dealuminated metakaolin with sodium hydroxide and water in calculated proportions. The mixture was heated to a temperature of 95oc between a time range of 12 to 60 hours. The crystallized product was then washed thoroughly with deionized water and then dried. Analysis was carried out on the dried product sample using two different characterization techniques; X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluoresense (XRF). The results from the analysis indicated the formation of zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite clay and the maximum crystallization time obtained for the synthesis of zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite clay at 95oC was 48 hour

Application of response surface methodology (RSM) to osmotic dehydration and drying of green bell peppers

A study to investigate the effect of osmotic solution concentrations of common salt (5%(w/w), 10%(w/w), 15%(w/w), 20%(w/w) and 25%(w/w)) and osmotic process durations (60 min, 90 min, 120 min, 150 min and 180 min) at average room temperature of 31 °C on the drying rate and nutritional qualities (vitamin C, crude protein, crude fibre, fat and ash content) of green bell peppers was conducted. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) under central composite design in Design Expert 8.0.3 computer software package was used to design the experiment, analyze data, and present all results with 3-dimensional plots. The temperature of 50 °C was used to dry all the pre-treated samples to the moisture content of about 7% (wb) in a fabricated cabinet dryer. The results showed that an increase in osmotic solution concentration and osmotic process duration caused the drying rate to drop to about 18g/h, then later increase to more than 21g/h; vitamin C did not reduce below 50mg/100g; crude protein increased but later reduced, however the range of about 18-20.5% was obtained; crude fibre increased to about 4.8% but later reduced to about 4.6%; also, fat decreased but later increased to a maximum value of about 16.5%. The increase in osmotic solution concentration kept the ash content at a steady value of about 4.01%, but the increase in osmotic process duration led to a very sharp increase in ash content from 4.01% to 4.25%. All drying rate (15.53g/h) and nutrients values obtained were better than the control value, that is, an untreated dried sample (vitamin C (46.02 mg/100g), crude protein (17.40%), crude fibre (4.16%), fat (11.42%), ash content (4.01%). This further confirmed that osmotic dehydration is a quality improving pre-treatment method

Effect of Crystallisation Time on the Synthesis of Zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite Clay

In this study, the effect of crystallization time on the synthesis of zeolite Y from Elefun kaolinite clay was investigated. During the synthesis of zeolite Y, the raw Elefun kaolinite clay was beneficiated thoroughly with water for 7 days before it was calcined at a 850oC for 6 hours to thermally convert it to metakaolin. Dealumination of the metakaolin was then carried out using the novel method to achieve a target SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 6.5. A hydrogel solution was prepared by mixing the dealuminated metakaolin with sodium hydroxide and water in calculated proportions. The mixture was heated to a temperature of 95oc between a time range of 12 to 60 hours. The crystallized product was then washed thoroughly with deionized water and then dried. Analysis was carried out on the dried product sample using two different characterization techniques; X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluoresense (XRF). The results from the analysis indicated the formation of zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite clay and the maximum crystallization time obtained for the synthesis of zeolite Y from Elefun Kaolinite clay at 95oC was 48 hours